The Real Deal on Cholesterol, Saturated Fat, and Cardiovascular Health

Writing on this subject and being able to share this life saving information with you both excites me to no end, yet also gives me a bit of anxiety. This anxiety comes from the fact that so many people, no matter how many times they may hear the true story on the effects of cholesterol and saturated fat on their body and heart health, on some level can't believe it. And the reason they can't believe it is because we have been lied to our entire lives by bad science, mainstream medicine promoting this bad science, pharmaceutical companies, and the media. And when people can't believe the truth despite the hard evidence, it simply kills me. But in reality, its killing them.

You might think this sounds dramatic. But cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in America (even more so for women). Cancer is the second. If you read my blog awhile back on good fats vs bad fats, you've heard that the fats we have been told are "healthy" (canola oil, margarine, etc) are the ones that are actually responsible for a myriad of health problems. Since the 1950's when the low-fat diet craze became popular, people have been gravitating towards low/non-fat foods like snackwell cookies, low fat granola bars, nonfat milk, etc. Even many of the "health" foods we buy make health claims because they are low in fat and low in cholesterol. So why is it then that the American Institute of Clinical Nutrition discovered in a clinical study that saturated fat is not linked to raised incidences of heart disease? Or that the Annals of Internal Medicine Journal found in another clinical study that people on a higher fat, lower carb diet decreased their blood triglyceride levels, lowered their LDL ("bad" cholesterol) levels, and raised their HDL ("good") cholesterol levels? Or why is it that the French who eat exponentially more saturated fats and smoke more cigarettes have dramatically lower levels of heart disease than Americans? Same goes for the Swiss, Spanish, and pretty much every other country. We are #1 in cardiovascular disease worldwide. Yay us!

So lets look at some basic science behind these studies. What is cholesterol, what is its function in our bodies, and why is it not to blame for cardiovascular disease (CVD)? Cholesterol is a waxy substance (a steroid metabolite, to be exact) that is produced by the liver and found in our cells. It serves many important roles, such as maintaining cell wall structure, forming bile (which aids in fat production), transporting fat soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K. It is also the precursor to all of our hormone production. It is carried through our bloodstream in the form of lipoproteins (protein+fat), because cholesterol on its own is sticky and cannot flow through the bloodstream on its own, so therefore has to be "packaged" with some other compounds. It comes in 2 main forms (although there are sub-forms too that I will not get into here): LDL (low density lipoprotein) and HDL (high density lipoprotein). HDL has more protein than cholesterol, moving more freely through the body, and LDL has more cholesterol and can potentially cause more problems. The most important part is that we have a proper balance of HDL to LDL. Additionally, LDL comes in two main forms, small and large. The large molecules are not so worrysome, as they are able to "float" by arterial wall damage with no problem. The smaller, denser LDL molecules can cause problems, however.

When our arterial walls become inflamed and damaged (I'll look at causes for this in a moment, but think smoking, eating sugar and refined carbs), cholesterol is delivered to these sites to repair the cell damage. Thats its' job! What happens though overtime, is the small density LDL molecules get stuck in pockets of arterial wall damage, creating a sort of scabbing effect. Then, white blood cells passing by get stuck on top of that, and this combination leads to plaque build up, and eventually clogged arteries. It was never the cholesterols fault, it just happened to be on the scene of the crime so "science" formed a bogus hypothesis that it must be the culprit.

Lets look at what is actually the culprit! According to Tom Naughton in his documentary, "Big Fat Fiasco" (which I will give a link to later and plead with you to please watch!), sites the main sources as smoking, disregulated blood sugar, and emotional stress. These are the factors that cause inflammation of our arterial walls, therefore leading to above mentioned plaque build-up. And what causes high (or low) blood sugar, both toxic and dangerous to our health? Of course...sugar and refined carbohydrates (and I'd throw in trans-fats)! So now we know that not only are these the things that are making us fat due to insulin resistance (see my previous posts on fat and hypoglycemia), but also are what make us the leader in heart disease. Why have our cholesterol levels risen dramatically since we started the low fat craze?? Because we publicized the "science" before the research results had proven otherwise, and the institutions advocating a "heart healthy diet" which contains low fat, low cholesterol food-like products are getting rich off of the American public's growing addictions to these processed "foods."

So what does this mean? Well first of all, its great news. It means we can get back to eating real foods, including eggs (yes, with the yolks! Dietary cholesterol actually improves total cholesterol in our bodies), grass fed butter and meats, coconut oil, even nitrate free, natural bacon. As Michael Pollan states and I've probably quoted before, if your great Grandparents wouldn't recognize it as food, don't eat it!!

Another crucial thing to consider is if you yourself or friends and family are taking statin drugs (cholesterol lowering drugs), there are many dangers that come with these. This could be an entire book (and is), but I will recommend you check out some resources. Spacedoc.net is a site specifically on the dangers of statins by Dr. Duane Graveline, M.D., author of Statin Drug Side Effects and the Misguided War on Cholesterol.  Also check out The Hidden Truth of Cholesterol Lowering Drugs by Shane Ellision, M.Sc.

The final resource I BEG OF YOU TO WATCH is this 5 part series that can be found on You Tube titled "Big Fat Fiasco." This is a talk given by Tom Naughton, a man of many talents, both comedian, scientist, writer, and director. He wrote, produced and directed the film "Fat Head: You've Been Fed a Load of Bologna." This talk that I urge you so strongly to watch is the most amazingly clear and profound way I have ever heard the issue of cholesterol, saturated fats, and cardiovascular health explained. It will take up about an hour of your life, but could also save it. You can find it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exi7O1li_wA

If you are taking statins, please work with a health care professional (perhaps your primary doctor along with a holistic nutrition/medical professional) to consider some important supplements like CoQ10, which your body needs for heart and muscle health yet is impossible to produce once you start taking a statin. I am by no means working against mainstream medicine, but keep in mind that many medical doctors (thankfully more and more are seeing the light) have been educated under the low-fat, low-cholesterol diet model, and simply are not aware of many of these dangers. Also, consider working with these same professionals to perhaps slowly transition from these drugs to food and lifestyle changes that will profoundly effect your well-being in the short and long term.

As always, feel free to contact me with any further questions. And here's to our health!